


Nothing and Everything in Between

by BaeyoungnBaeran



Category: Mystic Messenger (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, Pre-Canon, Romance, Sonnet's first non-dark MysMe fic, Very loosely inspired by a song, but kinda not, fluff maybe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-26
Updated: 2020-08-26
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:33:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26118850
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BaeyoungnBaeran/pseuds/BaeyoungnBaeran
Summary: Whether meeting her was an arbitrary chance scribbled in sand or a fateful occurrence etched in the cosmos, it didn’t matter. A life without crossing paths with her was a life he couldn’t fathom.
Relationships: Kim Yoosung/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 11





	Nothing and Everything in Between

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Cleffie](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Cleffie).



> To my bestie westie and her bias wrecker, hope you like this oneshot gift fic~ For the next, I'll make sure to do a better job with your bias (◍•ᴗ•◍)❤
> 
> And to other readers, feel free to read and heck, even comment if you want :3
> 
> Anyway, song inspiration  
> https://youtu.be/sdktOY-MLYE

_He used to wander on a smooth lackadaisical road._

“Hello, my name is Clef,” she bowed. “Please take care of me!”

Rarely did students transfer in the middle of the school year—their senior year, no less—but she was not one of them.

“Thank you, Miss Clef. You may sit next to the class president, Yoosung Kim.”

_Nostalgia was a special kind of filter._

The new student made her way to her seat. At the time, he had not paid any attention, simply reviewing his notes for the next exam but…

She carefully set her bag on the ground and sat on her seat.

_His memories of her played like a silent monochrome film; she was walking in slow motion, and the subtle movements he once ignored now became more noticeable—the way her hands tugged down her backpack strap, how each step she made had a bounce to it, and how she tucked a lock of her brownish-black hair behind her ear…_

While the teacher was busy writing about photons on the blackboard, she faced him, “Hi, you’re Yoosung, right?” she spoke in a soft whisper.

_At her voice, random strokes of red and brown were suddenly being painted over them._

At the mention of his name, Yoosung turned his head to her direction and smiled politely, “Yes, that’s me.”

“Um, well, as you can see, I’m new here. Is it fine if you show me around school? I’ll treat you to lunch, don’t worry! But if it’s not fine with you, then I understand.”

_With each passing second, more colours were being added to the spectrum and the longer it went, the more detailed the hues became…_

“Alright,” he nodded.

She bowed her head, “Wow, thank you!”

_...eventually transitioning into a vivid film that he couldn't peel his eyes from._

Three subjects later, the bell that signalled lunch rang and everyone excitedly scurried out of the room.

Yoosung carefully placed his books inside his bag, except for one notebook, which they had a quiz on. Although he already studied them since a week ago, he would skim over it during lunch.

Just another routine in his monotonous day. 

Once he finished fixing his things, he stood and was already walking towards the door.

“Yoosung, wait!”

He immediately halted and turned his back, facing the new girl running towards him. “Yes?”

“I’m sorry. Was I too slow?”

With eyebrows scrunching, he tilted his head. _What was she saying?_ “What? What do you—”

When realization dawned on him, he almost wanted to judo-flip himself on the spot. _‘Way to go, Yoosung!’_

“Oh, no, no!” he wildly waved his hands and shook his head. “I should be the one apologizing! I’m sorry I forgot; I just...have a lot in my mind. Like the Calculus test later.”

“Oh. Am I taking up your time?”

“No, that’s not what I mean…”

“Hmm, tell you what...you can show me around tomorrow and right now, let’s just study in the cafeteria instead. How does that sound?”

Yoosung mulled over her words. He has never studied with someone else before, finding it to be distracting and inefficient.

But he did not want to be rude to the new girl.

“Okay.”

“Yay!” she clapped her hands. “I promise I won’t waste your time! Let’s go!”

She then skipped ahead of him and as she did so, only one thought formed inside Yoosung’s head.

_‘Cute.’_

**\- - -**

After their review session in the cafeteria, the two quickly became lunch buddies. He found out that studying with someone else was not so bad, after all.

Or perhaps it was not so bad if it was her accompanying him. 

“Yoosung?”

“Hmm?” Yoosung hummed in reply and flipped a page from his book, his concentration unhindered at all.

“What are your hobbies?”

_‘Of all the questions she had to ask…’_

His hand went up to his head, lightly scratching it, “I, uh, read books.”

“Ooh, what books? Hemingway? Murakami? Plath? Christie? Oh, is it Harry Potter?”

“Um,” he twiddled his thumbs and hid his face behind his book, “our school books...?” he faltered. 

“Like the novels we’re assigned to read?”

“Well, that and basically our school books…” he mumbled. 

_Nerd, geek, goody-two-shoes, and teacher’s pet_ —that was what his classmates thought of him as. At first, he never really cared what their opinion of him was. So what if they found him boring and only befriended him for homeworks? At least, he was ranked first in their year. Unlike them, he had a better shot at getting into SKY University, the top-ranked university in the country, than they had.

_But when she asked the question, he found himself ashamed of the lacking excitement in his life. What if she finds him boring and stops hanging out with him?_

“Oohh, that’s so cool! To be honest, I don’t really like studying in my free time, because uuughh,” she groaned, “but I really admire people who could do the stuff I can’t do. Inside my head, I’m like, _‘Ehrmegersh, teach me your ways’.”_

“R-really?” he stared at her incredulously, taken aback by her reply. He expected something along the lines of _‘Get a life’_ or _‘There's more to life than studying’._

“Mm-hmm!” she beamed and scooted closer to him, oblivious of how such a forward action made his heart skip a beat. “I think people who could find fun in the most mundane stuff are the most interesting.”

“I-Is that so?”

“Yep!”

“You don't think I’m boring?”

“Why would I? If I found you boring, I wouldn’t have stuck with you this long. And besides, I doodle a lot, which might be the most mind numbing hobby of all.”

Yoosung chuckled, “Nope! It's not…at least, compared to mine.”

“Well, if anyone finds us boring, so what? Let’s just be boring together.”

_Whether meeting her was an arbitrary chance scribbled in sand or a fateful occurrence etched in the cosmos, it didn’t matter. A life without crossing paths with her was a life he couldn’t fathom._

**\- - - -**

“Yoosung,” Rika nudged him, her green eyes following Clef’s movements. “Who is she?”

“Oh… she’s my—”

“Girlfriend?” With an impish smirk, Rika wiggled her eyebrows. 

Blood quickly rose to his face and he stuttered, “N-no!” 

“Aww, but she seems like a sweet girl,” she teased.

“Miss Rika!” Clef called out.

Rika’s head rose upon hearing Clef call her name, “Yes?”

“Where should I put this?”

“Oh, you can ask Yoosung for that.”

Rika repeatedly patted Yoosung’s back, the glint in her eye telling him to be a gentleman and help a lady out.

“I’ll help you!” Yoosung said, taking the box from Clef’s hands.

As he retreated, he sometimes took a glance behind him, frowning at the growing closeness between the two girls. What that feeling was, he had no idea.

It was irrational but he couldn’t help it.

**\- - -**

To Yoosung’s mild surprise, Clef and Rika were now occasional text buddies. Rika was a friendly girl, after all. And Clef...well, she held a special kind of charm in her.

“Since when have you been friends with Rika?”

“When you brought me to that Home for the Aged,” Clef said, tapping the keyboard of her phone, texting Rika as usual.

“Is she, uh,” he scratched his head, “telling you weird stuff?”

He knew Rika was perceptive, much more than him… to the point where she noticed details about him that he himself never caught on.

So the thought of Clef finding out about the most embarrassing stuff about him...

Clef looked up at the ceiling, humming in thought, “Not really.”

Yoosung let out an exhale of relief, “That’s—”

“Anyway, can you teach me how to cross-stitch? Rika told me you’re good at it.” 

_He used to think people were just exaggerating, but now…_

“Aaaaahh! Don’t listen to her!”

_He finally understood what they meant by wanting the earth to swallow them whole._

**_\- - -_ **

Slowly, Rika grew distant, and Yoosung could no longer find the endearing crinkle on her eyes whenever she smiled.

“Yoosung, are you alright?”

Clef. The only other girl aside from Rika who could sense something amiss in him.

“N-no. I’m just...worried about my ranking.”

“Are you sure?”

In a way, she was like Rika. Similar, yet so different at the same time. 

**\- - -**

Rika’s death left him in an anguished mess.

“There's no way she was depressed! You must’ve pushed her to kill herself!”

At the time, he noticed…but didn't want to acknowledge it.

“Yoosu—”

“I hate you!”

Yoosung bawled as he fell to his knees, the piercing words aimed at V being cut off by his quick gasps.

“I'm sorry…” V hung his head down. By this time, his apologies were turning into a broken record that Yoosung didn't care how racked with guilt V was. 

Yoosung sniffled. _What was the point in apologizing? If a simple ‘sorry’ could bring her back, perhaps he could forgive V._

“I'm sorry, Yoosung.”

_Even when at the back of his mind, he knew V had never been at fault._

**\- - -**

“Yoosung…”

He ignored her, not even raising his head to acknowledge her presence. When his whole world has crumbled in one go, nothing mattered.

Despite that, she sat next to him without saying a word and placed her hands on her lap. She had already offered her condolences so there was nothing left to say. Comforting him was useless, for empty words of reassurance won’t fill the void Rika had left.

Instead, Clef put her earphones on and placed her hands over her ears.

She closed her eyes. After a moment of silence, she whispered. “You don't have to tell me. My eyes are shut; not only am I covering my ears, but my music’s volume is at its maximum. Whatever you do, I won't be able to see or even hear it.”

Yoosung stared at her in reply, unable to comprehend her words, but curious of the next words to come.

“When you finally let everything out, just tap my shoulder.”

As soon as she said that, memories of Rika’s bright light soon began to blind him—the first time he begrudgingly helped her in volunteer work, eventually finding joy in it; her motivating words that made him believe that he could achieve more; the excitement in her voice when she announced RFA’s first party; the first time she cried in his presence as she blamed herself for Sally’s death…

And the tears he tried so hard to hold back came pouring in torrents.

The first person to ever believe in him has disappeared without a trace, never having the chance to see him walk the stage and deliver his valedictory speech.

The promise he told her after Sally’s death has lost all meaning the moment she left the world.

With his eyes puffy and bloodshot, he ran out of tears to shed. 

He gazed at Clef, finding that she stuck true to her words and was still in the same position he last saw her in—eyes closed and hands tightly covering her ears. Taking in her countenance, he realized just how blind he used to be.

She was neither cute nor pretty; instead, she was beautiful. Seriously beautiful, as though she were a riveting film he could never tire of watching, keeping him wondering of the next scenes to come. 

He moved closer to her and placed his hands over her own. This action caused her eyes to snap open, puzzled as to what Yoosung was doing.

Now their roles have switched.

He leaned his forehead against hers and closed his eyes. “Thank you.”

“What?”

He whispered something she couldn’t make out and when he was done, he removed his hands from hers, giving her a soft smile.

She removed her hands from her ears and tugged her earphones down. “What was that about?”

Yoosung put a finger to his mouth and winked, “It’s a secret!”

_Even without a shooting star, he hoped his name was enough to grant his wish._

**\- - - -**

_|Yoosung: failed my midterms fml_

_|Yoosung: T_T_

By this time, he was used to failing his classes. Gone were the days of Yoosung topping all of his subjects and hanging awards on his wall. It was as if past him was an entirely different person. They even looked different ever since he dyed his natural brown hair blond, something that rustled his mother’s feathers.

_‘It’s just blond! Zen, Seven, and V have more weird hair colours! V has mint hair! Mint!’_

He looked at the dreamcatcher hanging by his window. _How was she? Was she doing well? Was she doing good in her classes, at least?_ The last he heard of her was months ago due to personal reasons. Though curious, he did not pry further.

But that did not change the fact that he misses their conversations.

> _"You weren’t accepted in SKY University?”_

> _"No,” she pouted and shrugged. “I’m not smart enough for SKY, apparently.”_

> _“If SKY won’t accept you, then, I won’t go there.”_

> _“No! Are you insane?!” she hit his arm and scoffed. “It’s SKY University we’re talking about!”_

> _“But it’s not the same if you’re not there…”_

> _“So? Don’t you know how many high schoolers dream of studying there? Seriously, you’re taking it for granted.”_

> _“But…”_

> _“No ‘but’s! And besides, I already have a school in mind.”_

> _His head perked up. “You do? Where?”_

> _When she said the name of the school she planned to enroll in, his heart sank._

> _“That’s two hours away from SKY…”_

> _"Yeah, but it’s the best school out of my choices.”_

> _"_ _So we can’t see each other again?”_

> _First Rika, now her?_

_“We’ll keep in touch.” She reassured him._

> _It was not enough for him; how could it be, when her most endearing mannerisms would be hidden behind the screen?_

> _Taking advantage of his unfocused state, she took his palm, placing something over it that felt like threads, and folded his fingers over it._

> _“I made it,” she grinned, brimming with pride._

> _He opened his palm, taking the object by its string and holding it in front of his face, “What’s this?”_

> _“A graduation gift, duh.”_

_|707: Coz you played LOLOL all night lol_

_|Jumin Han: If you want to work for our company, you should take care of your GPA_

When he messaged his distress to the RFA, he expected it to be just another useless chat with them…

_|Jumin Han: Who are you? Reveal yourself. Hey, Assistant Kang._

...only noticing a little too late that there was something out of the ordinary.

_|MC: Reveal yourselves first. I am the most confused one here._

**Author's Note:**

> Meant to be an open-ended oneshot unless an idea hits me like a freight train~
> 
> Hope my bestie (and other readers, if ever) enjoys this hohohoho
> 
> Not-so-fun fact: Wrote this while walking my doggo lol (She's a very cute husky hnngg) 
> 
> Signing out~


End file.
